Conor McGregor has been some of the significant focus around MMA fighting news for a last couple of months, but things seemed to have called down until he attacked a fan for trying to take a picture of the fighter outside a hotel in Nevada.

Now, with that almost in the past as well and nearly at the end of his suspension, the professional fighter announced that he would be retiring from MMA.

The Tweet hit his page on the 26th of March 2019, wishing all his colleagues well and including that he will be retiring to join his former partners who are in retirement already.

Not the First Time he Mentioned Retirement

While Tweets like this are sure to get people talking, it seems many are taking it rather lightly as the lightweight champ has done it before.

In April 2016, McGregor used the popular social platform Twitter to announce early retirement as well. In a quick Tweet, he said he decided to retire young and that he is thankful for the cheese. The first retirement was announced when he was just 27 years old and had just lost the second time in a row to Nathan Diaz by submission. By now, we know the retirement threat never went through, and McGregor was seen in the octagon multiple times after that.

Reason for Retirement this Time

Now at 30 years old, we see McGregor hasn’t been having the best start to 2019 as he entered the year with a hearing and being suspended for six months after the post-fight brawl that was started by opponent Khabib at the time.

This means we haven’t seen McGregor take on any fighters in UFC since UFC229, which was way back in October 2019. His suspension is said to end next month, and he has already been lined up with fighting opportunities, which is where it all began.

McGregor was set to fight against Donald Cerrone, but just last week, Donald was booked to take on Al Iaquinta instead, which takes place in May of this year. At the same time, the UFC wanted McGregor to take part as the co-main event, but it didn’t take long before he turned down the offer. Instead, of accepting, he said he wants shares in UFC for taking part as the co-main event.

McGregor says all he asks for are shares as he knows he would be pushing up the views, for now, ESPN+ event. He says he is more than winning to take part, even in the first fight, but all he wants are shares in UFC.

The idea of getting shares in UFC isn’t a new thing either. McGregor has been pushing for stocks since the first two-division champ match where he took the lightweight title. However, the UFC seems against the idea, which could be the main reason for the retirement.

If you’ve heard of either Iranian Hulk of Martyn Ford, you’ll know these are two of the most prominent fighters in MMA. Put these two in an octagon, and you’re bound to see a massive fight, unlike anything you’ve experienced before.

Well, in 2019, we might see the biggest fight of them all. Not because of marketing or a money fight, but instead with two of the most prominent MMA fighters stepping up for taking each other on.

It’s been said that these two massive fighters would be taking each other on later this year, which can only be described as a freak MMA fight. Martyn Ford is known as “The Scariest Man on the Planet” who weighs in at 143 Kg and stands at over two meters tall. The Iranian Hulk packs more weight at 178kg and is just a bit shorter at 1.85 meters.

Ford used to be a cricketer and rather skinny before he turned to bodybuilding on a whole new scale. An injury in cricket was the turning point for the massive man who has now found himself in films such as Final Score, which was released in 2018.

Now, a signed contract with Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a Polish organisation. He finds himself tapping into MMA to become one of the most critical fighters we have seen. After signing, Ford expressed his love for MMA and is looking forward to using his skills on the cage.

Up to now, he doesn’t have any professional fighting experience, but with his massive size and training, we might see a rookie take on other massive fighters and come out on top! That’s certainly what his 1.5 million followers are hoping for.

He also added a post on Instagram, further expressing how excited he is about the new adventure with KSW. He also tells fans about the tough training and that he is ready to take it all on and succeed.

Iranian Hulk, also known as Sajad Gharibi has become an overnight success as he is compared to the famous green muscle monster from the Marvel comics. He already has over 400,000 followers on popular social platforms who tune in often to see how the massive man lives and what he does daily.

He has dreams of joining the fight against IS by joining the Iranian Armed forces as he has a passion for his country and would like to defend it. However, with the new MMA opportunities, we might see him take on the octagon first, for which he would also need loads of training to get ready

Both these giants have been working hard on getting themselves prepared for the fight taking place later this year. Being an action-packed moment in the cage is sure. Would either of them manage a KO? Would it go through multiple rounds or would it be a boring fight that doesn’t reveal much to look at?

Heavyweight fighter, Derick Lewis finds himself even further away from claiming a title after being defeated last week at UFC 146, taking place in Kansas.

Considered to be the fighter with the most post-fight regret, Lewis finds himself one step further away from claiming the title he has been hunting for so long. The fight was meant to be his way of forgetting the loss he suffered last year against the same fighter. Dos Santos, which was his first title fight ever.

Even though Black Beast agreed to the fight on short notice, there’s no denying that many were expecting more from the hard-hitting fighter. It would have been the perfect win to set him in line with a title match, but now, he is one step further behind.

How it All Went Down

The first round between Black Beast and dos Santos was somewhat strange for those who’ve come to know the fighting style of Lewis. While getting in a few hits, he seemed to have more focus on the leg strikes than anything else. Fans were hoping to see those powerful punches. Giving Santos a bit an of a wangle within the first round.

However, it seemed as if Santos was the one with all the advantage, hopping around with loads of energy and ready to give Black Beast the fight he wanted. However, in the first round, he didn’t manage to get much more than Black Beast.

Even the beginning of round two showed these fighters seemingly take it easy, but Santos managed to deliver a powerful kick to the midsection of Lewis, making him crumble in pain. Even with that kick, Santos remained careful of the powerful punches his opponent is capable of but decided to go for the kill when Lewis dropped after the kick. To no one’s surprise, Lewis tried to grab hold of Santos and almost delivered one of the punches. He just missed, causing Santos to reconsider his moves and draw back just a little.

With Santos stepping off, Black Beast was able to recover and get back to fighting. However, it wasn’t long into the second round when Santos managed to deliver a dominant right-hander. Once again dropping Lewis to the ground and now have the perfect opportunity to end the fight.

Was Black Beast Ready for the Fight?

The Black Beast team later revealed that the fighter wasn’t ready and suffering from a torn meniscus. This would have had a severe effect on his abilities to perform at his best. However, the short notice fight was accepted, and we’re sure Black Beast would’ve waited if he could do it all over again.

Now, he is has set back his career and opportunity of a title fight, but it’s certainly not the end of the fighter. We expect to see him enter the octagon again soon, possibly taking on Tuivasa.

»Posted by Charlene Adams on Mar 11, 2019 in General | Comments Off on Khabib Says Ferguson had his Chance at the Title

Recently stripped of his lightweight title to be rewarded to another interim fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov says he doesn’t get when Ferguson is upset. After the brawl at UFC229, Khabib was suspended for attacking teammates of his opponent Conor McGregor. The UFC boss, Dana White told Khabib he wouldn’t be able to hold onto the title while he sits out with teammates who received 12-month suspensions for their part in the chaos. Instead of completely stripping him of the title, UFC will reward the title to the winner of a UFC 236 fight, taking place on the 13th of April 2019. The winner will hold onto the title until Khabib returns later on this year.

With the title on the line, most boxing fans expected Tony Ferguson and Max Holloway to step into the octagon to see who gets to claim it. However, to the surprise of most, Ferguson refused the fight as he feels his hard work and training deserves more than just an interim title. It’s suggested that Ferguson only wants a fight with Khabib once he returns. They can take it out in the octagon to see who the ultimate lightweight fighting champion is for good.

Khabib Says Tony had his Chance and Missed it

Khabib takes to popular social media platform Instagram to deliver his thoughts on the title fight. Beginning by stating that he cannot fight Tony due to the suspension. He goes on to explain that it’s unfair for the UFC to strip him of the title as he fought three times within just nine months to defend the title.

He also adds that he had three opportunities of his own to claim the title, but didn’t for various reasons. Including a fight in 2016 where a possible battle against Ramadan was offered, which he turned down. The second opportunity was at UFC 205 in New York where he signed, but the title was given away. Finally, the third time, was at UFC 209 when he was taken to the hospital and almost died.

Finally, the Instagram message ended with Khabib explain that Tony is a great fighter and that he certainly deserves a title, but with the way things are now with him being disqualified, Tony would either need to wait for the fight or he would need to get in the fight now and claim the interim title. He also adds that the fight against him is unlikely since the UFC doesn’t want it.

If Tony waits for Khabib’s disqualification to be over, he would need to wait until the end of the year before the fight would be possible. The only problem would the winner of the interim battle for the title as they would need to take on Khabib to determine who would keep it. Therefore, Khabib would need to win, and then Tony can line up for the fight against Khabib.

Fighting news has been a hot topic in the last week. We have seen multiple major shifts as fighters once again making news with major brawls at professional events. Luckily, there is some general news as well, but fights outside the fighting area have caused even this.

It’s quite disappointing to see these things happen as it puts a hold on possible fights and significant events for the sport. Not only do professional fighters get disqualified, but it puts a substantial shift on the respect we have for the fighters. On top of that, they destroy their careers, perhaps not instantly, but it positively affects what they can achieve. Below, we look at some of the latest news revolving around the UFC lightweight title and a massive brawl that took place at the BJJ event in Brazil.

Santos Attacks Pena’s Teammates at BJJ Main Event

Some of the biggest fighting news in the last week has to involve the jiu-jitsu fight between Erberth Santos and Felipe Pena, which started usually but didn’t end well for Santos at all. It all went well, and the fight was underway, but when Pena attempted to sweep Santos, it resulted in Santos falling to the ground in pain. He claimed his knee had been injured and the fight was put on hold to provide Santos with medical attention. While the team was looking him over, an argument broke out between Santos. Pena’s teammates who were saying he is faking the injury and he should get up and fight instead.

It wasn’t long after when Santos amazingly jumped to his feet and ran to the team to attack a black belt student, Daniel Thedit. Of course, the first thing wrong with this action is the fact that he was able to run with a supposed to be injured knee. He went on to start the fight, which was met with loads of people getting involved. Some were trying to add to the brawl by attaching team members while others were trying to stop the fight and get them separated.

With all this going on and Santos unable to get to Daniel, he changed his mind and set sights on another student named Servio Junqueira instead. He pushed Servio right off the podium, fell himself and was met by a series of punches and kicks as Pena fans attacked Santos.

Interim Lightweight Title Fight Declined by Ferguson

With Khabib out for most of 2019, thanks to a brawl he started in 2018, Dana White decided he cannot hold onto the lightweight title until he returns. Therefore, the UFC plans to line up a fight for someone else to retain the title until Khabib enters the octagon once again.

Naturally, the first and most deserving choice was Tony Ferguson, but not long after being offered the fight against Max Holloway, he decided the match and posted that he deserves more. Now, the title fight goes to Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier who will step into the octagon in April 2019.

»Posted by Charlene Adams on Feb 19, 2019 in MMA | Comments Off on How to Wager on MMA

MMA has been attracting fans and bettors
since the 90s, and the sport has only grown bigger over the last few years.
Now, with significant fights such as Tony Ferguson taking on Khabib and
Mayweather interested in another money fight, it might just be the perfect time
to learn how betting on MMA works.

Those who’ve expressed interest in wagering
on boxing will fight various similarities with these unique fighting styles.
Sure, there are differences, and the betting itself is unique in multiple ways,
but just understand how wagers on boxing works will help a lot.

If not, no problem as we go through the
basics of wagering on MMA below. To get started, it’s important to understand
the fundamentals of MMA fights. This includes three rounds of five minutes each
on standard fights and up to five rounds of the same time with title and
special events. It’s interesting that the outcome betting is similar to boxing,
but there is one major different, including the submission.

The sport includes the same results as boxing, including points, knock outs, technical knockouts and more. With submissions, the fight would end up on the ground as the fighters try to grip each other in the way that forces the opponent to tap out when he/she can’t fight a way out. It’s important to know this as some of the biggest fighters in the world, including Khabib use this technique to defeat his opponents. That includes the major fight that took place in 2018 at UFC229 where he forced Conor McGregor to tap out in the fourth round. Basic Betting on MMA.

Basic Betting on MMA

MMA fights are categorised by weight, just
as with boxing, but the weights are a little different, but easy to keep track
of. The fights can take place regularly, simply depending on whether you’re
wagering on the smaller events or waiting for the big fights.

The first and most simple form of betting
in MMA is moneyline, which works the same as with other events and sports. With
this option, you simply place a bet on the victor and receive winnings based on
the odds of the fight.

Total rounds is another interesting form of
betting and a little more complicated than moneyline. However, it’s also
straightforward as the bookie provides the options of just how long the fight
will last. In MMA, it isn’t very common for bookies to provide various options
as most fights online last for three rounds. Therefore, you might find two or
three options, including 1.5 rounds, two rounds 2.5 and so on. Basically,
you’re wagering whether the fight will go the distance, or will there be a TKO,
KO or submission before the end.

To get into the basics of MMA betting,
these two options are all you need. From here on out, it’s more about technical
betting options for the specific fight and what the bookie has to offer.

»Posted by Charlene Adams on Feb 15, 2019 in MMA | Comments Off on 2019 Possibilities for Khabib

Both the end of 2018 and the start of 2019
has been filled with news revolving around the suspension of McGregor and
Khabib following the UFC 229 chaos that occurred in October.

As most would know already, but the
fighters were suspended right after the fight while the Nevada Athletics
Commission decided on the punishment. In January 2019, the ruling was finally
delivered, and both fighters received a fine and suspension for their part.
This included six months for McGregor and nine months for Khabib, who also had
the option of decreasing it to 6 months with an anti-bullying post, which
wasn’t accepted.

While this seemed to have been the end of
the matter and that we’d see both fighters return to the octagon within just a
few months, the fact that Khabib’s teammates received a suspension of a year
wasn’t going to go well with Khabib. The fighter didn’t take the news well and
made it known that he won’t return to defend his title until his teammates are
able to compete again. That means we won’t see him fight until November 2019.

Many might have made peace with with
already, but the MMA board aren’t pleased with the choice as it places loads of
strain on the possible fights lined up for 2019. Therefore, earlier this week,
Dana White made an announcement that Khabib would not be able to sit out and
hold onto the title.

So far, we haven’t seen a response from Khabib’s management team, and we’re not sure what the future might hold for the current title holder, but here are some possibilities;

If Khabib Returns

The most logical move for Khabib would be
to return to the octagon and defend his title against interested fighters.
Sure, he would still need to wait for the few remaining months of his
suspension, but even that could be decreased with the anti-bullying option
that’s available.

Not only would it mean great things for
2019 MMA, but the fighter wouldn’t be wasting time by sitting on the sidelines,
let’s face it, retirement is coming up for all the fighters, even those that
have proven to be the best.

His income would also take a punishment if he sits out as sponsors would need to reconsider deals and he would obviously be losing out on some brilliant money fights that might just include Mayweather taking on another MMA title holder.

If Khabib Doesn’t Return

If he doesn’t return, we might just see him
being stripped of his title, which would mean it can be fought for or it will
go back to McGregor who was the holder before Khabib. Of course, this would
line up many other fights, once again involving McGregor.

It could also mean that Khabib loses the title until he returns, but this would just make it confusing for those interested in entering the octagon to fight for the title. However, it could also mean that Khabib would need to fight to get it back.